Theology of the Reformers

Theology of the Reformers by Timothy George looks at five men who contributed to the important Reformation of the church in Europe during the sixteenth century. Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, John Calvin, Menno Simons and William Tyndale are all explored in this important work. This book shows the beginning of protestantism and the theology that drove the divide between Protestants and Catholics and is very needed during this time in our Western culture.

More and more protestant denominations are getting farther and farther from the doctrine handed down to us from our fathers during the reformation as well as from the Bible itself. George does an excellent job of giving an overview of each reformer and the Scriptures that drove their doctrinal view as well as comparing and contrasting each of their stances. I thouroughly enjoyed reading about each of these men and where their theology landed. It greatly helped me in honing in on my theological thoughts and understanding where the different schools of thought have come from. It drove me to the Scriptures to understand and solidified my stands even more.

When I first started this book, I did feel like it was a little over the head. You really do need a dictionary to read it. Thankfully there is one for theological terms in the back of the book. As I read, however, I found it easier to understand as George brought the ideas together.

I thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion section where George summarized the main points on which the reformers focused. He made his own conclusions from them but also left it open for you to make your own.

I think anyone that considers themselves a Christian should read this book, especially if you are in a protestant denomination to hear where things started for us in dividing from the Catholic church. I particularly enjoyed reading the brief section on Tyndale and how he ran from the law to translate the Bible into English and provide the Scripture for the common people.

I give this work 4.5 stars only because of some of the confusion in his writing.

Reading Challenges:
Tim Challies's: A book about theology in the avid section
2019 Christian Reading Challenge for Women: Theology in level 1